BardCast: The Shakespeare Podcast

Coriolanus is a guy whose name ends with the word "anus". There's nothing we can do about that.If you want to hear about the play, you can listen Here!Some articles on Coriolanus:Revisting Shakespeare's Coriolanus: New York TimesT.S. Eliot on Shakespeare

It's no wonder everyone suggested we watch Hollow Crown, it's an excellent production. We talk about it Here!The Globe Player is a great source of performances at the Globe Theater. Check it out!Indian version of Hamlet on NYTimes15 Minute Hamlet

Our episode on Richard III is more rushed than a usual episode because the play is extremely long. I'd like to come back to it to explore some of the interesting details we skipped. If anyone would like to hear that kind of episode, let us know!Kevin Spacey's interview on playing Richard on stageIan McKellen's interactive site

To celebrate our third season, we thought we'd make an episode no one was asking for: another book club!The books we talk about:The Science of Shakespeare by Dan FalkThe Secret Life of William Shakespeare by Jude MorganOphelia by Lisa KleinThe Book of William by Paul CollinsTo Be or Not To Be by Ryan NorthThe Horatio Hornblower series by CS ForesterThe October Daye series by Seanan McGuireIn future episodes we're going to debate the subject, "is Othello about race?" and talking about how to stage Hamlet. Please let us know what you think at shakespearepodcast@gmail.com Leave the subject name "Othello" or "Hamlet" in the email.

This is our 50th episode! The next episode is the beginning of season three, with our second Book Club episode.Hamlet Act V is an odd one, like the rest of Hamlet.Please vote on what you want the next episode to be!

We went to see Hamlet at the Guthrie! Then we made a podcast about what we thought.We also talk about the Patreon campaign to support the podcast.This does not count as an "episode" in terms of Patreon. Just a little bonus! Our next episode is Hamlet Act V, which is also our 50th episode! That will make it the end of season 2 of the podcast, how exciting!After Hamlet, we'll have a vote on what play to do next. We're considering Romeo and Juliet, Coriolanus, Richard the Third, and Henry the Sixth, Part One. If there's something else you'd like to do first, please let us know what you think!

We talk about Hamlet, Act IV. People start dying. I think we're going to do an episode about Polonius Laertes and Ophelia later. Especially considering whether they are necessary to the play.New websites!Tumblr PatreonPatreon guide:Patreon is a service where people can give money to content creators when they produce something. In this case, people can give money to us when we produce podcast episodes. The money goes to defray the expense of producing and hosting the podcast.You can set limits on the amount of money you can donate. We only produce an episode once a month, so setting a limit of once a month for donations is good. If you only want to donate for a particular amount of time, you can limit the total number of donations as well.

Our choice of the theme for This Episode was not a coincidence: We're starting a Patreon campaign, so Patronage in Shakespeare's time seemed appropriate.The Patreon page can be found HERE. You can set an automatic donation to the podcast with the release of each new episode. Thanks for everyone's past and future support!Good Tickle Brain Shakespeare Comics.The Life of Shakespeare: Copied From the Best Sources, Without Comment Great source of Shakespearean Primary Documents.Shakespeare as a Groom of the Chamber A good example of Shakespearean research and writing.Our Tumblr

Act III is really good. In fact, we skimmed over it a bit too fast, and I think we're going to have to have an episode about the monologues at some point. The monologues are so important, and have so much content, they certainly justify it.For more info about how the audience sat on chairs on the stage in Shakespeare's time (and other details about the audience and the stage): http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=1434 http://www.shakespeare-online.com/essays/shakespeareaudience.htmlChoice Conversations interviewed us:  choiceconversations.libsyn.comI asked the director of Hamlet: The Series for a more detailed description of the project, and here it is: "Hamlet: The Series is an adaptation of the play into a six-episode web series in the original language, but with modern dress and an abstract modern setting.-Episodes are divided so that each takes place over about a one-day period, so that the audience can feel how each scene connects to the next. The amount of time between episodes however is left uncertain, as in the play itself.-The early and late episodes follow the Quarto act breaks, but the middle ones do not, because the breaks didn't match up to where I felt the days began & ended.-Several roles have been switched male-to-female, both to give it a more modern feel and to point out how some of the themes still play in the modern world.The main website is hamletseries.com. There's also a Hamlet: The Series group on Facebook that people can "Like". It will be available free on Youtube, for rental or digital purchase on Amazon Instant Video, and for DVD-purchase on Amazon.  Episodes 1 - 3 should be available by about the time your Podcast goes live, the last three sometime in the Spring of this year."

Act II is a lighter part of Hamlet. More jokes, fewer ghosts. We find out a lot about our characters.Anne Barton, a Shakespeare critic, recently died, if you want to find some of her writing, try out her page on the New York Review of Books, she's pretty good!Thanks to everyone out there for all your support, next up is Act III! (Unless someone suggests something else good.)PS.Just updated the feed. Anyone having issues with downloading the podcast, please try again. Only the latest episode is on the new service, but we will be adding the backlog as space becomes available. Sorry about the difficulties.

We're happy to reveal our secret project: an interview of the Six Elements Theater Company! They're putting on Much Ado About Nothing soon, and we were very fortunate to be able to interview them about it.Our next episode is Hamlet: Act II. Information regarding the productionTicket Infohttp://www.tediousbrief.com/ http://www.sixelementscompany.org/

We're doing Hamlet in a series of five Acts. I think it's a way that we can look at the development of the story and characters as we go through it. Here's Act I.Warning, if you haven't seen Hamlet, or know the story, I'd strongly advise seeing it before doing literally anything else. That may not be too practical because there aren't a lot of theaters performing it at any given time, but it's still nice to dream that someone could see it completely fresh, even today. We're hoping to have our next episode be a very special edition. I'm keeping it a secret right now, but we're very excited!

iTunes link doesn't seem to be working at the moment, but the episode is still available through this link. (Is there anyone out there who runs a server that could host these episodes? Our current solution may not be working.)I think that Taming of the Shrew is changed by our modern perception of gender more than any other Shakespeare play.  When Petruchio says that his wife is his property, that seems shocking to us, but was a defensible position at the time.We came down pretty hard against Taming on its anti-feminst position. We admit that you can play it in another way, but the text doesn't provide for a sarcastic interpretation.Like I said in the episode, if you or someone you know needs a position filled, I'm available to take on a new job. Just send an email to bardjob at gmail.comMake sure to vote on Hamlet or Coriolanus!

Our new episode is about some Shakespeare books.Kill All the Lawyers?: Shakespeare's Legal Appeal Narrow interest matter, but well written and some interesting sections Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human Full of opinions, some of them insightful, some of them outrageously unfounded. The book never actually explains what the "invention of the human" is, or how it happened. Shakespeare in Kabul A very good book about a story in Afghanistan that isn't about terror or war. Lots of good details about what went into this very unusual production of Love's Labours Lost. How Shakespeare Changed Everything Mostly wrong, occasionally interesting. Should have been titled What's the Minimum Word Count for a Book? or All this Shakespeare Research Must Be Worth Something!Our next scheduled episode will be about Hamlet, but we may have a surprise episode before then!

Shakespeare's Histories are an odd category; they don't encompass all of the Shakespearean plays that are from historical events. I prefer to think of them as "Shakespeare's modern history", since they are events whose effects still mattered in Shakespeare's time. Please Support the SHIELD ActIf you want to hear more of Tom's Shakespeare recordings, here's one to start off with!

Sorry about the delay everyone. We both have part time jobs that make it difficult to find a time to work together, and we had to scrap an episode that didn't work, and we got discouraged about the whole process, but here's a new episode!Measure for Measure is about justice, and how law and justice can be opposed. Particularly, it's about how laws about sexual conduct aren't followed, so this one isn't for kids. 

We both like Twelfth Night a lot. It's our new episode!We've been having a lot of cool comments here, I'm excited about our next mini-episode discussion!

In this episode we take a whole new approach. We bring up some issues, but don't have definitive answers.So what do you think aboutIs Othello about race?Should extinct words in Shakespeare be translated into modern English?How explicit should we be when talking about dirty jokes?

Cymbeline is a weird play. It isn't really a tragedy, despite its title. Our next episode is 12th Night.Sorry again for the delay: Jeff and I both finished school recently, so we should be able to get these out faster from here on out. http://archive.org/download/BardcastCymbeline/CymbelineRough.mp3

Sorry about the extreme delay, both Jeff and I are working and going to school now, so we don't have as much time for podcasting and editing as we'd like. Also, I was sick for about a month and a half.The episode is available Here.Hark! A Vagrant has fantastic comics about Julius Caesar Here and Here.A review of The Shakespeare Wars is available Here.

Anonymous has come and gone, so now is probably the best time to release a belated counterpoint podcastTo sum up, it's bad writing and bad history.The next episode is Antony and Cleopatra, vote for what you want to see after that!EDIT/CORRECTION:Our next episode is going to be about Julius Caesar, partially because it's before A&C, but mostly because it's going to be playing later this month, and we want fresh memories.

Much Ado About Nothing is a good play, with many good turns of phrase by Shakespeare. So many, in fact, that I forgot some of my favorites! Is it not strange that sheeps' guts should hale souls out of men's bodies?Benedick, Act II, Scene III (Referring to the way that musical instruments can cause transcendent emotions)For there was never yet philosopher, that could endure the tooth-ache patiently. Leonato, Act V, Scene IWe don't know what the next episode will be about, cast your vote in the comments, or in the donation link!If you do make a donation, is it possible to leave a message? If not feel free to send your request/comment to Shakespearepodcast at gmail.com

Hamlet is a cool play, and a cool guy. We did an episode about the play. Don't worry, this is just an overview, we're going to dig in much deeper with later episodes.Here's a sample from the "Bad Quarto", "Good Quarto", and the First Folio

A new month, and a new episode of BardCast! This one is about Ben Jonson, he was a pretty cool guy, if rather stuck-up. Please respond to our newest poll, while you're here!This is one of the better sources of Jonson's works. Things I forgot to mention this episode:Ben Jonson was probably a bricklayer before he became a professional writer. It's not for sure, but it's the most likely job. Ben Jonson once got in trouble for writing a semi-treasonous play, and he learned from that never to write against the monarchy.To Celia,Drink to me only with thine eyesAnd I will pledge with mine. Or leave a kiss but in the cupAnd I'll not look for wine.The thirst that from the soul doth riseDoth ask a drink divine;But might I of Jove's nectar sup,I would not change for thine.I sent thee late a rosy wreath,Not so much hon'ring thee As giving it a hope that thereIt could not withered be;But thou thereon did'st only breathe,And sent'st it back to me,Since when it grows and smells, I swearNot of itself, but thee.(Thanks, Wikipedia!)

In this episode we name our favorite and least favorite Tragedies, and talk about how the podcast is going.Check out this funny webcomic on King Lear. She also has one on Macbeth. Kurt Vonnegut's rules for writing. If everyone read these, stories would be much better.Like we say in the episode, this episode is more casual, let us know what you think, and vote for your own favorite Tragedy!